The foundation of the majority of modern technology is silicon, which is being used as a semiconductor material in its purest form. However, in reality, silicon's properties as a semiconductor are far from ideal.
Drawbacks of Using Silicon as a Semiconductor
Despite being one of the elements with the greatest abundance on Earth, silicon is not the best option for semiconductors.
One reason for the frequent overheating issues and expensive cooling systems in computers is the poor heat transfer capabilities of silicon, according to the news story by Scitechdaily.
New Material That Is a Better Semiconductor Than Silicon
Fortunately, research conducted by a group of scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and other institutions have revealed that a material called cubic boron arsenide eliminates this problem, as it has a great thermal conductivity.
The best semiconductor material ever discovered, as claimed by the researchers, may well be this one.
Why Is Cubic Boron Arsenide a Better Semiconductor Than Silicon
According to a recent study that was just published in the Science journal, cubic boron arsenide is substantially more mobile than silicon for both electrons and their positively charged counterparts.
Along with having higher ambipolar mobility, cubic boron arsenide transfers heat better than silicon, which could help prevent overheating and the requirement for cooling systems in electronics.
The lead author of the paper, Jungwoo Shin, a postdoc at MIT, said that heat is now a significant bottleneck for many electronics. He cited how silicon is being replaced in Tesla and other electric vehicle power electronics with silicon carbide, which has three times the heat conductivity of silicon.
However, boron arsenides are seen as a possible "gamechanger" because they have 10 times more thermal conductivity and far higher mobility than silicon, as per the report of Vice.
According to the researchers, it is the "best semiconductor material ever found" and possibly the best one that might exist.
Challenges in Manufacturing Boron Arsenides
Since no practical method of mass-producing high-quality cubic boron arsenide has been discovered, it is still unknown whether it is a viable alternative to silicon, Vice report noted.
The outlet also mentioned that only crystals less than a centimeter in size that have non uniform thermal and electrical properties have been obtained so far by researchers.
Small, not uniform lab-scale batches have only been used to create and test cubic boron arsenide thus far.
In fact, the scientists had to employ unique techniques originally created by former MIT postdoc Bai Song in order to test small regions within the material. To determine whether cubic boron arsenide can be produced in a relevant, reasonably priced form, more research will be required.
However, the material might find some applications even in the near future where its special features would make a big impact, according to the researchers
